1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicular remote locking and unlocking control apparatus having a door locking trigger means and a door unlocking trigger means, which are disposed on door handles on external sides of a vehicle, for instructing vehicular doors to be locked and unlocked.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, some vehicles incorporate a vehicular remote locking and unlocking control apparatus for starting bidirectional authenticating communications between a vehicular unit and a portable radio terminal carried by the user when a trigger means on the vehicle is operated, and controlling vehicular doors to be locked or unlocked based on whether a response signal that is transmitted from the portable radio terminal and received by a receiver on the vehicle matches an identification signal peculiar to the vehicle.
As disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-509121 (PCT Application), such a vehicular remote locking and unlocking control apparatus includes a door locking trigger means and a door unlocking trigger means disposed on door handles on external sides of the vehicle.
With the arrangement disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-509121, since authenticating communications are started and the doors are unlocked simply when the user grips and operates a door handle to open the door, the user finds it easier to unlock the doors than to operate a trigger means on a door panel and thereafter grip a door handle to open the door. If trigger means are provided on the door panels, then different door panels need to be manufactured depending on whether the vehicular remote locking and unlocking control apparatus is desired to be installed or not, resulting in an increase in production control cost. However, the arrangement disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-509121 only requires the door handles to be replaced depending on whether the vehicular remote locking and unlocking control apparatus is desired to be installed or not.
One problem with the disclosed arrangement is that, since both the door locking trigger means and the door unlocking trigger means are disposed on the door handles, they are positionally close to each other, and may simultaneously be operated to lock the doors against the will of the user.
An improved structure is also known, by which door locking trigger means are installed on the door handles in such a way that prevents the doors from being undesirably locked, details of which are disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-503777 (PCT Application). Specifically, recesses are defined respectively on an inner side (facing a door) and an outer side of a door handle, and movable members having permanent magnets accommodated therein are disposed within the respective recesses. Reed switches are disposed outside of the movable members in confronting relation to the respective permanent magnets provided in the movable members. The permanent magnets and the reed switches are paired to make up pushbutton switches, thus providing two independent switch means, forming a door locking trigger means and a door unlocking trigger means disposed on the door handle, respectively.
As described above, two independent pushbutton switches are incorporated into the door handle, for use as respective trigger means for instructing the door to be locked and unlocked. The surface of the pushbutton switch that is used as the door locking trigger means is placed in the recess of the door handle. Consequently, the pushbutton switch is prevented from being pressed inadvertently, so that the doors are prevented from being undesirably locked.
However, the above structure tends to make the door handles structurally complex and expensive to manufacture. In addition, the structure is also liable to impair the appearance of the door handles.